17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer sounded surprisingly upbeat despite enduring his worst ever Davis Cup defeat and the reason is that he wasn't playing for the score so much, he was playing to get back into the match.
Federer was thrashed 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 by fiery Frenchman Gael Monfils, the Swiss champion opted to dismiss the downsides and ponder the positives on Friday. Sidelined by a bad back for the five days leading into his first rubber in a Davis Cup final, Federer said that he was listening to his body as Monfils bombarded him from all angles.
The Swiss said that from his side, as the match went on, he just started to loosen up, added that he needed to hit 30 big serves, he needed to slide, he needed to be in defense, he needed to play offensive tennis and get information quickly, Stuff.co.nz reported.
He admitted that Monfils did well to get the lead, then the Frenchman was able to stretch the lead early in the second set.
Federer believes that that is when he finally, because he wasn't playing for the score so much, he was playing to get back into the match, he had the information he had been looking for, started to relax a little bit and started to feel better as the match went on.
Also Read
More than the physical, it was the psychological side of things that was the problem for Federer, who has had a history of back pain throughout his career. It is something, he says that he has learned to live and play with over the course of the years.
The world number two said that if one has a back issue, it's just one of those feelings one feels uncomfortable. He claimed that one doesn't have to be in unbelievably excruciating pain, but it takes a while for it to leave ones mind, adding that it's like a ghost, it's there.
But, Federer added that that's why it was good for him to play three sets, as it definitely gives them a lot of information.
That information would now be used by Federer and Swiss captain Severin Luthi to decide who would play in Saturday's doubles and Sunday's reverse singles with the final delicately poised at 1-1, the report added.
